AC Milan clinched their first win of the 2024-25 Champions League edition as they scored three goals against Club Brugge. Several players did well, especially a duo off the bench, and below are the ratings for the Rossoneri.
If you haven’t already, make sure to check out how we decide the player ratings. From the scale to what affects the rating, we have compiled everything there.
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Starting XI
Maignan (7): The goalkeeper made some really good saves in the first half and saved Milan from going down early, which could have made for a completely different game. After the red card, he didn’t have a whole lot to do, and he couldn’t do anything about the goal.
Emerson Royal (5.5): Brugge had three dangerous chances on his side of the defence just in the first half alone. In fairness, the third chance came through a quick counter and his positioning was thus understandable, but the first two chances were nearly fatal. He improved after the red card, but we can still demand more.
Gabbia (6): While the defence was stretched at times, the centre-back defended well and also had some lovely long balls for the attackers. He got booked and committed a few fouls, which brings down the rating, but solid.
Tomori (6): Just like his colleague in the heart of the defence, it was more of a solid display than a spectacular or poor one. He wasn’t really out of position on the second goal either.
Hernandez (6): All things considered, the Frenchman was important in both phases of the game and especially in attack. He missed a good cut-back from Leao, and he was a little bit too central on the goal conceded, but he also had some good interceptions and runs forward when needed.
Reijnders (7.5 – MOTM): The Dutchman looked a bit out of place at the start of the first half, just like Fofana, but he certainly improved as the game went on. First he did well to press Onyedika, which resulted in the red card, and then he bagged himself two goals. Right place at the right time on both of them, finally keeping his composure in front of the goal.
Fofana (6): While he did have some good moments, there were too many misplaced passes and lost balls (in dangerous positions mind you) from him today. It just wasn’t as commanding as we saw against Udinese, but still enough to get a pass given his overall contribution.
Pulisic (7): He opened the scoring from the corner flag (!) as a great curler was sent into the box. Sure, he got a bit lucky with what happened after but the cross was still just right. On the second goal, he made a great run towards the first post to open up space for Reijnders as well. And the overall display was very good from him too.
Loftus-Cheek (5.5): He used his physique on a couple of occasions to lock down the ball, but as far as actually contributing in the key phases of the attack, he wasn’t successful.
Leao (6): In all fairness, he did have some good moments tonight, such as the cut-back for Theo and then the run plus pass for Pulisic’s chance in the first half. At the same time, Okafor really made a difference immediately in his position, same with Chukwueze on the opposite side. They are clearly in much better form.
Morata (5.5): Not the usual impact we have become used to from him, looking a bit tired and not really finding his teammates in most situations. Hard work as always, but it would have been a nice with a bit more output.
Substitutes
Chukwueze (7): Stunning work on the third goal, dinking it past his man before driving forward and finding Reijdners in the box. He had a few other good runs into the box which resulted in dangerous chances, and he made the right decisions.
Okafor (7): Just like his opposite man off the bench, it was immediate impact and even though the run against Udinese was better, we shouldn’t downplay today’s run. Again, he kept his composure after beating his man and turning on the acceleration, which is something we don’t see often from Leao.
Camarda (6.5): He became the youngest Italian player, as well as the youngest Milan player, to feature in the Champions League at 16 years and 226 days. He was very unlucky not to get the goal, disallowed for a narrow but clear offside, especially since he was very lively and played well.
Musah (6): Solid passing and control of the ball in midfield, helping Milan see out the game.
Thiaw (N/A): We didn’t see enough to give him a rating.
If anyone thinks pulisic goal was an Accident. He was obviously aiming for the goal. Im sure the usual ppl will downplay Pulisic performance this game, “after the accident goal he didnt do much, etc”, But that is expected. Pick any Pulisic goal this season and its a puskas.
He did a lot but clearly Mignolet shouldn’t allow a goal as that going in and neither should any other keeper and if anything I think it was a pass to the front post but whether Gabbia missed it or ducked his head might be a different matter.
Nothing about hating here as I adore Pulisic but that’s simple form of set piece in football but the ball rarely goes in directly that way.
It was a shot! You seem pulisic head turn and he clearly sees the keepr offline. Human reaction time for Pros and especially quicktwitch players like pulisic is 100milliseconds. Gotta understand how athletes see things, when watching sport.
Well I disagree and he seemed surprised that it actually went in himself.
I don’t know if you have played football yourself but this sort of pass to the front post at corner kicks is pretty common practice in the sport. What made the difference here is that Mignolet messed up and that the ball had so much curl that it actually went in which in the end is fairly lucky for us.
that shot was nowhere near gabbia head. Thats not a near post flick on cross. Thats a shot. Cant anyone here….
Then my advice to you is to get some glasses then, it clearly almost was headed in by him but either he missed it or ducked his head, Either way no goal keeper should allow such goal to pass all the way through and it could even have been saved at the goal line by a Brugge player. Clear as day but obviously great it went in.
I don’t know what you were watching but the ball was definitely near Gabbia. It was so near that it almost grazed his hair, and thats what throw the Goalkeeper off. He was thinking that the ball will change direction.
I’m the biggest Puli fan but even I know that he got lucky on that. He usually always puts his crosses in that same area. He played a hood game though as usual.
Good*
He admitted it was luck and that he didn’t try to score. So now you are out of luck. All good.
People here will complain on everything just you wait 😅
He was obviously sending the ball to gabbia
Shut up jack azz. All you do is complain about the team. You don’t get to celebrate this win.
^love this
2 late. Already did. Cry harder
Semi colon l k j, dude come one. Cross from the corner looking for a near post flick on (likely Gabbia who’s very good aerially).99 times out of 100 keeper grabs the ball, this was the 100th time I love Pulisic but come one. Glad he got the goal too so it’s not like hate or anything 🤷♂️.
In previous games you could see he aimed for a direct corner many times.
Pulisic: “Today I was a bit lucky but it still counts as a goal….. I didn’t try to score directly but it was a good cross and then a nice goal came out.”
“I DIDNT TRY TO SCORE DIRECTLY”
LMAO 😂😂😂
🤣🤣🤣
The fact that he kept refusing to accept what Pulisic said in the other article as well made me think of a whacky standup sketch with Bill Hicks about presumptuous evangelical christians believing in their rights to own machineguns compared to Jesus’ message of peace because they believes that he was either misunderstood or misquoted 😀
No. Pulisic was aiming for the near post. He wasn’t trying to score. Trust me on that. So calm down.
Good display by Fonseca today haha, one has to recognize.
Of course the rating from this st will always complain about Emerson. Dude played better than RLC and you rate them the same.
Dude played decently in second half, actually one of his best refs since he joined, but definitely in first half he provoked some golden opportunities for Brugge; if Mike hadn’t rescued him by making two good stops, Emerson could have lost this game for us. So, no, he doesn’t deserve a good rate.
Oops I meant one of his best halves, not refs
Emerson look tired.
Especially after he took a knock in the second half
I was hoping to see Calabria for the last 15 minutes so that we can get that dude to rest
Actually Calabria wasn’t on the bench tonight. He’s still injured.
Calabria is not injured, he’s pouting because he lost his starting spot. Pretending to be injured. What’s the injury?
Just as well. Emerson has not been great but he’s been better than Calabria for sure.
He’s lucky to be playing at all
At the K poster with the yellow icon: Calabria is listed by the medical department as having a muscle injury and being possibly back in early November. I think that to say he is pretending is a bit much. After all, the doctors should be able to have objective evidence of an injury (they can do imaging tests that show inflammation, swelling, little hematomas, etc.). It’s not kind to a player to suppose he is faking injury without any evidence.
Otherwise I do think that Calabria hasn’t been good and should be sold. His contract should not be renewed. Yes, he served Milan well for many years but no player is bigger than the club.
He will likely walk out on a free transfer at the end of his contract but that might actually be beneficial because it would encourage management to purchase another RB who might be an upgrade over Emerson Royal.
Missing a defender like kjaer to lead from the back.
1. If Reijnders starts finishing like this he might become the 2nd best player on the team behind Pulisic.
2. I’d start Okafor and Chuk for now until Leo works on his end product. He had a ton of good runs though but just needs an end product.
3. Milan should have done better after going up a man but a win is a win. 2 in a row!
4. Got a little scared when Puli went down. Glad he looked good after.
Great post, agreed on all points.
1. Yes
2. Agreed 100% Rafa makes tons of amazing runs, but the end product isn’t there. He reaches the endline and then takes one extra touch and then the chance is gone. Happens again and again. Look at Okafor’s assist. It’s beating his man, just as Leao had done, but he makes the quick immediate cutback, and it’s a tap in. If Okafor takes another touch there, the chance is gone. Leao needs to be less selfish and simply play as a winger — beat your man and quickly put in a good cross.
3. We were playing too slowly until the subs came on at minute 60′. After that we played more quickly and didn’t allow Brugge close again.
4. Very worried too in that moment! I do think Fonseca should have subbed Puli there but I guess he wants him to be a 90′ player so he trusts him to go the whole game.
If anything he’s too unselfish. Leao did what Okafor did multiple times just his teammates didn’t finish. Leao if anything needs to demand the ball more and force himself to be more involved
Agree completely about Leao. Raw talent but his end product is lacking. Plus he doesn’t work hard enough IMO. Walking to the locker room and not celebrating with the team we pretty childish also.
Was*
Good win. Bad start to the game. Give Fonseca credit for the subs. I thought RLC was useless this game and I’m a fan of him.
Reijnders finally learned how to finish, that’s a good thing.
Chuku looked good and that’s vet promising.
Honestly the defense did not look good. I think Theo and Tomori are the problem. Theo has zero interest in playing defense and both him and Tomori are always out of position. There is no structure when they play. On the goal there was nobody on the left side Theo was all the way on the right side and Tomori who is the left CB was not over there either.
I know people are going to kill Leao as they scored as soon as he was taken out but he created a lot of chances on the left and did the same thing Okafor did only they didn’t finish his passes. The only thing I didn’t like about Leao is that after the game it looked like he walked straight to the locker room other than celebrating with his teammates. We nay have a problem there.
Extremely accurate comment. Rafa did the exact same thing that Okafor did, in 3 occasions, but his companions didn’t convert while Okafor’s pass was converted. But I also did not like at all his attitude of going to the locker room without celebrating with the companions. I usually defend Rafa here but tonight I can’t. He needs to grow up, clearly. There is nothing wrong with being subbed out at 60 minutes but apparently Rafa thinks he is above that. Not good.
Yes, Theo, Tomori, Gabbia, all failed in their goal. The defensive weakness remains a concern.
Yes, Fonseca was superb tonight. Likely his best game regarding the subs he implemented. He showed awareness and good response to what was going on, something Pioli rarely had.
Rafa played well and the sub was not necessary, though his replacement made just one lucky run and that gives the coach an edge over Leao, even san siro crowd were nto happy with the sub, he was clearly the only dangerous threat until chukwueze, as for going to the locker room, that’s something else, but I will say, “Let Leao breadth”….there is a cold war going on with the coach
To be fair to Leao its much harder to make runs from the start of the game when everyone is rested and fresh.
For all Rafa’s good runs to the byline. I can only recall one occasion where he found a team mate though. Theo when he sent it into the crowd.
His final option was lacking.
I’m not one to be super critical of him generally.
Exactly. What good does beating his man do if the end product is lacking and the pass cannot find a teammate? Unlike in Okafor’s (and Chukie’s) runs.
Leao REALLY needs to improve his end product. We’ve been saying that for years though and nothing has changed. At least into better.
Doppietta (brace) by Reijnders = Maldini’s Heir on suicide watch.
———-
Mike, kept us in the game with good saves. No responsibility for their goal; it looked like his sight line was hindered by our defenders.
Emerson, could have lost this game for us given the two opportunities he gifted to Brugge which fortunately Mike saved. He did better in second half, though, but he remains a defensive liability
Gabbia, what are you doing? Completely useless yellow. Not great in their goal either. One of the more forgetful games for Gabbia.
Tomori, together with Gabbia and Theo, some responsibility for their goal, but overall not bad.
Theo, tried hard but ineffectively. A forgettable game for him. I didn’t like it that Fonseca gave him the armband again. It should have remained with Mike.
Fofana was off tonight. Lost some dangerous balls. Maybe he’s tired from the huge, MOTM-worth display against Udinese.
Reijnders, MOTM. Finally he puts together two good shots on target, unlike his usual wide or high shots.
RLC, not good. Almost didn’t touch the ball. Correctly subbed out.
Morata, the usual work rate but also barely touched the ball (not really served to him by his companions but still, one of his weakest games so far)
Pulisic, what a world-class player with an Olympic goal that unblocked things.
Leão, had two good runs into the box with good passes for his companions who could have scored; would have had two assists. But otherwise, also had some bad crosses and in one occasion should have shot and scored but passed instead, showing a bad decision. He was correctly subbed out but then ran into the locker room at the final whistle without celebrating with his companions; he doesn’t help himself when he does that, and although I often defend him against unfair criticism, tonight I’m one who is indeed criticising him.
Okafor, great display, great assist.
Chuk, also great display, great assist. He always plays better in the UCL than in Serie A.
Camarda, oh my God, it was so disappointing for him to become the youngest UCL scorer ever for a few seconds but then having it (correctly) disallowed by VAR. Too bad. But still, he got his first UCL opportunity with the first team and did well so I’m happy for him.
Musah, not bad. I think he’s improving.
Thiaw, no vote, just a few minutes played, did nothing wrong.
Fonseca, wow, all his subs made sense and won the game. Great decisions, and not afraid to yank out exactly the players who weren’t performing well.
Great post, especially the first line!
Doppietta (brace) by Reijnders = Maldini’s Heir on suicide watch.
Forza Milan!
Thanks. Actually Rafa had three, not two good crosses like I said above. They were two in first half, and one right at the beginning of the second half.
I think they were one for Puli, one for Reijnders, and one for Theo. All three could have been scores if his companions had converted them.
On the other hand he had some ineffective attempts losing the ball to defenders, and two horrible crosses that went nowhere. And like I said, in one occasion it was a golden opportunity to just shoot and score but he passed instead and the play was wasted. So, it was a mixed bag for Rafa.
But he was very far from being one of the worst players tonight, like haters like K pretend. Actually FotMob’s rating which is quite objective, looking at a large number of stats, gave to Rafa the third best score tonight, only behind Puli and Reijnders, and their algorithm does favor players who score, so, for Rafa to get the third best after the two players who scored, that’s pretty good.
Why would I be on suicide watch?
I am absolutely delighted for him. I thought he did great and I have been complimenting him over the past few weeks including defending him after his harsh sending off on the weekend.
I criticised him for specific failings when our midfield was being consistently overrun. Fofana and him seem to have started to get to grip with things albeit we did struggle a little at the start of this game.
As for the goals, they were well taken, but it was overall contribution and movement that was much improved. At one stage he played a pass on the inside of the full back to Leao.
This is what I am expecting to see more of from him.
Forgive me for having high expectations.
Agree with your ratings
“But what does he actually do?”
With Theo and Rafa on the field it was as of the entire field slants left. Puli didn’t see a pass come his way for the first 20 or so minutes.
At this point after the Udinese game and the clear impact of Ok4 off the bench I think the problem is the team.
They seem to be focused on getting Rafa going. This makes us predictable and easy to defend. It also puts a huge albatross around Rafa neck.
I believe Fonseca needs to sort this out with the team.
I am thrilled with the win and the last 30 min of the game. But I was left unconvinced by us for the first 60min even after they went down a man.
What “team”? We have too many individualists. We’ve had the same complaints about Leao for 5 seasons. Yes, he’s got some physical skills, but the mental skills are completely missing. Say what you will about Fonseca, he has the balls to bench or bring off players who are not doing what they’re supposed to be doing for the group. I say we thank Leao for his 5 seasons, and let him go in the summer. We need team players. We need people with grinta. Get 60M for him and split that between an AM and a DM. Maybe time to shift Tomori too. Send him and RLC back to the PL for 45M combined and bring in a top CB. We’ll then be sorted.
We played better as a “team” when Leao came off ngl 🤷♂️
The entire field didn’t slant left, the right was dead, until Chuks arrival, Puli wasn’t playing well, RLC was crap, Emerson was BS as usual, the only threat in that attack was Leao.
Completely agree. Currently leao is more of a liability and the team seem more interested in bringing him into play than actually playing. The balance of the team is a lot more lopsided currently with his behaviour and tracking. Fonseca needs to sort this ASAP
This is true. When Leao is out there every pass is forced to him and they don’t really play good team ball. It’s not his fault but it’s been a habit of the last few seasons just depending on him so much. We no longer need to.
This ^^^
This is a better statement of what I was trying to say. Rafa is not the problem per se. The fact that every pass goes left when he is in the field is a problem and does him no favors.
I’m omw the BS walking off the field after the game, that is a Rafa problem.
Both are something Fonseca should address.
Note I think Fonsy is doing a pretty good job given the evidence that he and the “stars” are a bit at odds.
I’m only pointing out where more work should happen. I’m not saying good work is. It happening.
It really isn’t uncommon for teams to have more focus on one side.
Mpappe at PSG
Messi at Barca???
Henry at Arsenal.
Giggs at Man Utd.
It allows the team to play more like robots which is actually the key.
Milan’s imbalanced side won the Scudetto and made it to the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Pulisic, despite being our best signing since Ibrahimovic, was always going to unbalance the side.
Having said that I wonder how we’d have gone had we kept Saelemaekers and played Pulisic in the hole. He could have been a better version of Brahim (v a new Saelemaekers).
You say “more focus” but I am saying “sole focus”.
Simply playing Puli in a few times in the first 20 min makes Rafa’s job easier.
Simply providing Morata some service would make Rafa’s job easier.
As soon as he came off, the ball moved faster and from a variety of directions. Again this does no favors for Rafa.
Given the strong correlation to him coming off and the improvement of all players on the field improving I don’t believe this is tactical (Fonsy instructions).
So the (big) positive here is easy to achieve – Fonsy points to the first half and says “too much focus on Rafa by us” then points to the second half and says “play line this with Rafa”. Team improves and likely Rafa gets more space to operate.
We created numerous chances thanks to Leao so I really don’t see what the issue is.
There’s always going to be an unbalance but the key is we are actually scoring goals.
Scoring wasn’t a problem last season or so far this.
And most of that scoring involved Leao, Theo or Pulisic. We need all three.
Our biggest problem has been in midfield where we’ve struggled to control games and the defence has lacked protection. Even against Brugge we struggled to control the game before the sending off.
Mbappe, Messi, Henry, Giggs. Those guys are legends. Best of the best. Leao? Talented lad who is wasting his career to be “just” better than average. You really cannot put those guys in the same box. Unless you know nothing about football.
I thought the same thing about Rafa and Theo taking over the first 20 minutes. Everyone expects them to put a show on every time they touch the ball and they try to do that so everyone else looks like bystanders to their production.
I did not like RLC position in our half, he squeezed Pulisic out too wide. I would rather RLC give Pulisic the half space in zone 14 and drop in to receive passes from the backline so Pulisic has room to operate. His best use is in wide open matches like against PSG last year or as a defensive sub to close out a match.
“zone 14” – what does this mean and what can I search to learn more please?
RE: RLC, I personally think he is a good substitute 9 when we need to protect a lead. Morata needs someone to spell him on the regular.
Great observation, someone has finally said what I was actually looking for in the comment section. In addition, although people might say Leao created chances as well, it’s true, but he doesn’t press well when Milan is trying to win the ball high up. Thus making the team to be disjointed.
Forza Milan glorious win ❤🖤
Enjoy the win and save your complaining to another day.
What a game! I don’t even know what to make of it. Glad to have the points and all but I feel 11v11 would have been a different story. The bad parts …our poor play while being a man up, lackluster passing, teams knowing which flank to attack cough right flank cough cough, RLC being completely invisible for a large chunk of the game.
For the good parts, great SUB Okafor (as I’ve been saying) with immediate impact, good redemption for Deers for those two goals so I’m happy for him, almost goal for Camarda…soo sooo close. And also 3 points ofc.
BUT I must say when Leao went off the team played totally different. The ball moved quicker, faster and the team seemed to click better. I think Leao stagnates the play on the left too much. The one on ones are good and all but it’s moreso what to do when he can’t have the advantage to make those runs, he takes too long to pass off to another player. Therefore it’s much easier for defences to react to that. When Okafor was on if he didn’t have an outlet he passed off immediately and the ball kept moving all over the pitch. Not a good sign. Because I rate Leao highly and I think he needs to move the ball quicker.
Also I’ve noticed Chuk is good when he plays open teams. So I’d put him as a starter in Europe as the teams are more open. Even last year he seemed to play better and with space there. Serie A defences can be tiresome to break.
We’ll take the 3 points but we have work to do.
I don’t think it’s Leao’s fault. Okafor didn’t do anything on that scoring play that Leao didn’t already do 3 or 4 times in that game, it just happened to find Reijnders and he finished for a change. The problem is when Leao is out there the team automatically looks that way first every time and forces the ball to him. When he’s not in there they involve more people. Every pass in the first half was over to the left. Gabbia was guilty of this several times. Pulisic barely touched the ball. Having Pulisic in the middle rather than RLC also opened things up.
It’s true Okafor didn’t do as much after his assist to the game winner but sometimes that’s all you need really. He was decisive. I agree with the rest. But Also not saying Leao didn’t create, he did just that the play tends to bunch up and becomes more predictable when he’s on the field. Something coach will need to sort out
Everybody can have bad performance in one match including leao but his attitude terrible this season, he looks like have clash with coach but i agree the team after he get subbed play more better. As long as fonzy still coach , better sell him next summer 2025 for 60-70m euro
Yea I’m not liking the way he comes across tbh…maybe we’re misjudging maybe we’re not. But I wanna see how things play out a bit more before I really start to cast a stronger opinion. He did raise his hand on the goal scored when he came off but that too came off weird. Leao created though, it was just that the chances weren’t capitalized on.
Harsh on Leao, who as others have said, did the same thing as Okafor three times.
Strangely I don’t get frustrated with his ball hogging, and that is my No 1 pet peeve, because he’s generally quite direct and fast with his dribbling.
With Leao (and Theo) we get from A (our half) to B (the byline) so quickly that his dribbling is usually purposeful.
Agreed about the start of the game and 11v11.
I am in two minds about the midfield.
Reijnders I thought did well and has done for the last couple of games.
Fofana probably struggled more.
I don’t think we’ve really seen the two of them dominate a game, and control the midfield, when 11v11.
That will be the real test for that midfield pairing.
Agreed on Chuk.
Definitely take the 3 points.
I dont know think I was being harsh on Leao. It was what it was. The ball generally moves faster when he’s not on the field because he does take time to get into his bag. However when he does get into his bag, its some serious chances created and he did create. It just didn’t fall for his mates this game. But I think the coach needs to sort out what he wants Leao to do. I prefer the fluidity I saw after he was subbed 🤷♂️
Deers is an enigma for me lol. There were times in the game where I’d like to see him be more aggressive and creative as the “more attacking” pivot but he seems too shy. Got his goals and I’m happy for him but at the same time…(Also to be fair, he looked better when Leao left too as the play wasn’t concentrated on one side).
I actually think if we had a proper DM, Fofana can break the lines with his physicality. But anyways I’m digressing
Literally laughing out loud … we were put to the sword against a club from Belgium with 10 players throughout most of the matches, and these are the scores?
I’m happy for the win, but we are a mediocre team. Every match (even against f’ing brugge!) begins with 2-3 opportunities for the opponents, and we now it seems we can’t even control matches against 10 nobodies from brugge no less.
The final result is good. Power Reijnders and his two goals, great. But we are nowhere near the level we should and could be. And the Leao-Fonseca saga continues. Sigh.
thanks for the word Leao-Fonseca, Fonseca will be the one to be fired watch out!!
You are spot on. We struggled to much against a small team like Brugge. We should have filled their net cause they are one of our weakest opponents in the CL and we need that goal difference in this format since it can be crucial for who goes thru.
RCL shouldn’t be starting any matches, I’d pick Zeroli above him, he is just so lazy and does the annoying shadow marking.
I hope Leao can see how he is suppose to impact a game, you may not have many chances to beat your man but be damn sure when you do, the end product is good.
Good outing from Chukwueze.
Good substitution timing from Fonseca, going forward he should make his sub between 60-70mins so that no player is feeling too important or left out.
Having said that, good win for the lads, I still hold the opinion that Tomori should hit the bench, Pulicis should check his holding on to the ball, it’s becoming unnecessary and annoying.
The team is been held back by a few bunch, I hope fonceca is able to break thier wings.
Forza Milan
Pulisic should do what now??? Are you talking about the guy who has scored 7 goals and has had 3 assists this season so far? They guy with 10 goal participations so far? That guy?
———–
I can’t believe someone is still faulting Pulisic for something, anything. I suspect that it is because he is American so people here do their best to find something to complain of him about.
Try to be objective,
He is doing so well doesn’t mean he should play how he likes, it’s still a team sport. Leao has been a Milan baby for so long, see how he is panning out now?
I’m a fan of pulisic but we don’t want 3 Leao’s in this team, one is already too much headache.
Pulisic has enormous work rate and often plays unselfishly. Maybe Puli has shortcomings but the way he’s been a complete and very effective player, I actually don’t really see a lot of shortcomings at this point.
I always defend Rafa but Pulisic does not have Rafa’s often poor attitude and he is not a selfish player. He is an intelligent player who tries to make the best of the situations he sees. Sometimes it involves trying on his own, and at other times it involves passing the ball. He is not always successful at what he tries (no player is always successful), but often he is.
I don’t really understand what exactly you think Puli needs to be criticized for. Currently he is clearly Milan’s best player, and a world-class player. Sure, in a way, in a larger sense, all players can be criticized, even Lionel Messi. But that’s a bit extreme, when the guy who bleeds red-and-black, does everything he can for the team, and not only that, but scores 7 times and assists 3 times in 10 games, is still criticized. That doesn’t make any sense.
I’m being objective. Sorry, but I think you’re the one who aren’t being objective, because OBJECTIVELY Pulisic has been a giant. Why is it objective and not subjective? Just look at Puli’s stats. They can’t be denied. Those goals and assists did happen (including tonight).
Great win after what sounds like a rocky first half, although I missed it. I think I stand by my stance of being 100% relaxed about qualifying for next round. This team needs time… Especially happy tonight for Okafor and Chuk who get so much cr@p on here. I think Chuk’s new habit of chewing gum while playing has something to do with his uptick in form. Pity Camarda’s goal was offside but his moment will come soon enough ❤️🖤
Chuck plays better in UCL games. Teams tend to not sit back as much as they in Serie A. He also came on fresh against a 10 man team who were chasing.
Dint get me wrong Chuk seems to have changed for the better, but he was subbed on at the right time. Kudos to Fonseca for putting on fresh legs in the right positions
Rafa was clearly playing well, and the sub wasn’t necessary, Chuks sub was justified, Okafor ended up been a nice sub just for that one lucky run, he subsequently disappeared after that.
Sometimes all you need is one lucky chance, if you capitalize on it every other thing will be bonus.
No end product from Rafa. Great dribbling and beating his man but nothing to show for it. Okafor comes in beats his man and puts a perfect ball into the space pulisic made with his run. Rafa didn’t celebrate with his team after either.
The only end product that Rafa Was missing was his teammates, finishing his chance that he created? Obviously, it’s not a good look for him not to celebrate but when you know he was gonna get crucified anyway, I kinda understand him.
I need to rewatch the game but I don’t remember him setting anyone up with that good of a pass. The one to pulisic wasn’t great and I don’t even think he meant to do it. He was definitely a threat but he seems to usually make the wrong decision when it matters most. I do think he would be helped with Pulisic in the middle though. Hopefully going forward they can build some chemistry with Puli in the middle. If Fonseca decides to use Puli there more.
DUM MIGHTY, IS A LAZY LEAO FAN and IS jealous of PULISIC ‘S PLAY!!!!!
Poor Morata was so ostracized we might as well have played 10 against 10. Happy to take the 3 points but our off the ball play leaves a lot to be desired. Too static at times and just not enough movement to break down defences. There’s work to be done…lots of work.
Not a good game overall by Milan, very sloppy and even outplayed for good part of the game, but still managed to win the game.
My man of the match is Fonseca. Not because he prepared or set up the team well in this game, but because of the subs he made.
Milan played better defensively being a man down vs Udinese than having a man advantage vs Brugge.
Milan went from playing 9 vs 10 to playing 11vs10 after the subs, just by subbing Leao and RLC.
To all you Leao fan girls that always lose your minds when he is called lazy, go watch Brugge’s goal. Brugge’s RB, who scored the goal, was allowed to waltz into Milan penalty box freely because Leao was standing watching the game like the rest of the fans in the stadium, instead of running with him. The RB defensively is the responsibility of the LW, but Milan’s left wing doesn’t need to run back according to his fan boys. They say great offensive players don’t need to track back. Great offensive player? 1 goal in 3 months this season, after not being able to score a goal for 6 months last year apparently qualify you as a great offensive player.
Good on Fonseca for showing cojones unlike his predecessor who allowed him to be a lazy bum for 5 years.
People were calling Costacurta a fool for saying that Leao replacement played better than Leao. Good job Okafor, again.
Also Leao, one of the captains of this team, unfortunately, went straight to the locker room after the game instead of celebrating with his teammates.
Next game he should start on the bench. Okafor and Chukwueze deserve to start vs Bologna.
Fonseca should have taken Pulisic out after the team went up 3-1 to give him a well deserved break.
A shame that Camarda goal didn’t count.
“Milan played better defensively being a man down against Udi, than being a man up again Brugge” …sums up everything. Except it’s f’ing Brugge, no less. A bunch of nobodies that would love to play in Milan futuro. Disgraceful.
Agree that Chuky and Okafor earned their starts against Bologna and Leao to be benched again. With Reijnders out, wondering whom between RLC and Musah will start.
Most likely Fonseca will start RLC. He seems to like RLC although I think RLC is extremely irregular and unreliable and most games, doesn’t do much. I think Musah is improving and should get the start but I doubt Fonseca will do it.
Well, predictable. Their goal actually started on our right side (where was Emerson?) then they crossed to the right; Emerson, Tomori, Theo, and Gabbia all failed, but somehow it’s Leão’s fault. Sure, sure.
Rafa had not one, not two, but three great passes that his companions should have buried, in which case he’d have collected 3 assists. Then Okafor did the exact same thing but this time Reijnders bagged it. Good for Okafor, but Rafa wasn’t poor. Actually he got the 3rd best FotMob rating after the scorers Puli and Reijnders.
And yes, Rafa has had only 1 goal this season, but what you conveniently fail to also say is that he has had 4 assists, so 5 goal participations so far, which while way behind Puli, is still the second best for Milan, although he has played fewer minutes.
Where I think he does deserve criticism, was the fact that he ran to the locker room at the last whistle, without celebrating with his companions. I definitely did not like that.
Look, I actually did acknowledge stuff you said to me in another thread (not sure you ever read it as you didn’t respond) and actually said you had some good points and you partially changed my mind about how Rafa’s season is going. But then, again, you do this: not one, not two, not three, but four defensive players fail in a play that started from our right flank and somehow it’s still Rafa’s fault.
Yes, I’ve been unreasonable while defending Rafa sometimes and you helped me seeing it. I actually thanked you for it in that post you probably didn’t read. You may realize how I actually criticized Rafa in my ratings today. But then, you should also acknowledge that while my defense of him is excessive, your attacks on him are also excessive.
Ops, I meant, then they crossed to our left
With all due respect to Leao who I like, Okafor looked much better. Okafor seems stronger and more decisive with the ball. His play against Udinese for example is something you almost never see Leao do. He also plays defense and wins the ball back which gives Milan an advantage. For me it is either a problem of effort, or perhaps that’s Leao’s style. But Leao should feel uncomfortable after Okafor did in one minute what he could not in 60. I hope it inspires him to adopt a harder edge and more intensity to his game.
It’s an effort problem and an attitude problem. Imagine Seedorf or any of our historic players behaving like Rafa. That is what I don’t like about him. Other than that super talented player with a lot of magic moments.
No, Okafor didn’t do in one minute what Rafa couldn’t do in 60. Rafa did the exact same thing that Okafor did, but not just once: Rafa did it three times. However his companions didn’t convert the good crosses Rafa sent their way, while Reijnders converted Okafor’s. That’s not Rafa’s fault.
This said, Rafa did send in two very inaccurate passes in two other situations. And in one occasion he passed when he should have shot. But his three good crosses should have been converted, and at least one of them would have tied what Okafor did, so it’s unfair to fault him for the fact that others failed to convert what he provided but did not fail to convert what Okafor provided.
Rafa did not show poor effort tonight. He tried hard.
There are two things I actually fault him for, tonight. One, when he passed instead of shooting; bad decision. The other, when he went to the locker room instead of celebrating with his companions. Being subbed out at 60 minutes is normal for any player and Rafa shouldn’t take that as a personal slight and shouldn’t get moody about it. He doesn’t help himself when he does that.
But see, Pulisic in another game did the exact same thing, or worse: he yelled “why? why? why?” to Fonseca which is even more disrespectful. Players don’t like it when they are subbed out. Still, I didn’t see anybody faulting Pulisic for it, while people crucify Rafa when he does something like that.
I disagree. I think Okafor’s pass was much cleaner and easier to stroke than any of the balls that Rafa played in.
It’s normal to feel upset when the player who replaced you has a goal contribution in less than one minute. I’m not faulting him for that. His passes today were not crisp, his movements were often indecisive, and he lacked effort off the ball. I hope the good performances from Okafor encourage him to do more.
Why Why Why as his is shaking his hand? not a big deal, big deal is not tracking the Brugge RB that scored the goal and theo running inside the center of the box for no reason
I don’t remember Rafas passes being nearly as good as Noah’s. The one to Pulisic, which I’m not sure was intentional, gave Pulisic no angle to shoot. What were the other two? Need to go back and watch.
“I think Okafor’s pass was much cleaner and easier to stroke than any of the balls that Rafa played in.”
100% fact.
Rafa is pure garbage. Off with his head already.
Now that’s a stretch. He does need to taste the bench for a bit tho.
Go away, troll.
cmon, we need team players that have chemistry to be successful. He creates the opposite of that when he’s in.
True, Leao was in close proximity to the new sub when the attack was starting on their left. When the sub started jogging and positioning himself, Leao stopped following him. This allowed the guy the freedom to take his time without any challenge in his immediate proximity.
If pulisic was blamed last time out against fiorentina for being beaten by Adli, Leao sauntering on the field when he should have marked his man shows why the blame is on him now.
He had a wry smile when he realized okafor provided an assist with his first attacking movement. Him sulking and refusing to celebrate with the team simply shows he has an inflated opinion of himself.
It does look like they played better as a team when Leão went out. Before that they were predictable- give the ball to Leão and let him run. There is less movement when he is playing. Pulisic’s goal is partly luck and partly skill. He has mastered putting the ball a yard or two off the front post which ACM overloads with players. Typically it would be a header to score, but the location of the ball creates havoc.
Celebrate the win, enjoy the 3 points and burn the tape.
Did the players think that by “home game” they’re allowed to stay “home” ? For most of the game only Brugge looked like they wanted to win. I won’t say this is a good win, but this is definetly an important win.
Fonseca: I’ll give him credit, his subs had an IMMEDIATE impact, like instantaneous. I also liked that he brought Camarda in. Other than that, he was out-coached by Brugge’s coach and if not for the red card, the result might have been different.
Maignan: I’m happy that he is so reliable and a saviour, but I’m sad that we needed him to show a perfect copy against Brugge in San Siro.
Theo: Forget a deputy LB, we should start looking for a good LB, maybe that will give him a thought or 2. And why is he still captain ?
Tomori&Gabbia: not their best game. Both were outrun and outpaced during many moments by Brugge’s players even after the red card. Although with the absence of our midfield, you can’t put all the blame on them.
Royal: He might as focus on his PHD and quit football. The decision to buy him should be investigated and someone should be jailed for it.
Fofana: My man you’re supposed to be the last ramparts before the defense not the highway to the defense. He’s lucky that their midfielder got a red card.
Loftus-Cheek: Did he even play ? His subbing out was more beneficial than the red card !!
Reijnders: Did very well when he was dropped deeper. He’s better in the double pivot rather than an AM (although it was against a 10 men Brugge)
Pulisic: not his best copy tonight but did manage to get a direct corner. He was a bit lucky, but you can see he did attempt it many times this season.
Morata: didn’t show anything interesting.
Leao: For a good portion of the game, he was the only one trying. Did well with his dribbling but his passing precision is lacking.
Okafor: Did the thing Leao couldn’t do: cross the ball right.
Chukwueze: Is actually improving ! although I don’t know if this game is the best reference to measure it.
Musah: Is a bit more mature now, he’s less eager to dribble now and is more of a passer.
Camarda: if I was the referee, I would have turned a blind eye on the offside. He’s wasting his time with Futuro and Bonera.
Haha, unconventional but interesting post.
Rafa did pass accurately 3 times and his companions should have buried it. He passed inaccurately twice. He didn’t do anything different than Okafor in the second goal; the difference was that Reijnders bagged Okafor’s assist and in the 3 occasions Rafa set up his companions to score, they didn’t. That’s not Rafa’s fault.
In another occasion Rafa showed a bad decision. He was actually unselfish and passed. He should have taken the shot which could have been a score.
Not Rafa’s best game but not bad either. He was actually one of the best players on the field for the first 60 minutes before he was subbed out. But since he is the official scapegoat, you’ll see people like K here even faulting him for Brugge’s goal, which Rafa had absolutely nothing to do with. True, just read K’s post. He did say it. Unbelievable.
Fofana was likely just tired after his HUGE effort against Udinese, in which he was my MOTM. But yes, this was a worse game for Fofana than his several few last games.
RLC was our worst player. If Emerson had had a second half as bad as his first, then Emerson would have been our worst player, but given that he did improve, this dishonor goes to RLC.
Morata had a bad game but also didn’t get any service.
Yes, Okafor, Chuk, and Musah are all 3 improving.
Yes, what a pity, that goal by Camarda being (correctly) disallowed. Sometimes you’d hope that the Gods of Football would have subconsciously ordered the VAR officials and the ref to see it wrongly and confirm the goal, poor kid!
I was also very disappointed that Fonseca gave the armband to Theo again. And yes, Theo didn’t have a good game. He was supposed to compensate for the disaster that he caused in his last Serie A game, but didn’t.
I don’t know why Fonseca continues to show a beef against Rafa but seems to have forgiven Theo for a much worse offense, and even brought Tomori and Abraham back prematurely, last game. All three, Rafa, Tomori, and Abraham should have been punished for what they did with the PK debacle. That was a lot worse than Rafa getting moody, although like I said, I didn’t like it that Rafa did not celebrate with his companions tonight.
“I don’t know why Fonseca continues to show a beef against Rafa but seems to have forgiven Theo for a much worse offense, and even brought Tomori and Abraham back prematurely, last game. All three, Rafa, Tomori, and Abraham should have been punished for what they did with the PK debacle. That was a lot worse than Rafa getting moody, although like I said, I didn’t like it that Rafa did not celebrate with his companions tonight.”
I think that he decided that benching them against Udinese was enough to send a clear message. I don’t think he as a beef with Leao but that he doesn’t seem to need him all the time (and today it did work), in other words: Leao is very replaceable for Fonseca. The problem with Theo is that you don’t have subs for him, but I don’t understand why he is still the captain.
Good points. You are a good poster. I understand how you see it, but I still think that Tomori and Abraham should have stayed out the entire game against Udinese instead of being subbed in, for a clearer message. And definitely Theo should not have been given the captain armband tonight. Mike did a perfectly good job as the captain against Udinese and I’d have loved to see him still with the armband in a game when Theo was playing. That would have given a clearer message to Theo that he did not perform as a proper captain when he subverted the PK pecking order and when he antagonized the ref after the final whistle, thus hurting the team by collecting a 2-game suspension.
Agreed. Mike should have been captain today. No idea why he gave it back to Théo.
His personal beef with Leao will be his undoing, he did spill it in an interview with sky
What did he say to Sky?
That’s pretty spot on!
The pressure is piling on Rafa and idk if he’ll overcome this slump. His biggest problem is that he thinks he’s better than he actually is. I like Rafa as a player but he does not want to do what the coach is asking for.
Saw Puli ask for the ball in the CDM position. That’s the kind of player the coach wants.
That’s my impression of Leao too – thinks he’s better than he is – flatters to deceive, but the deception is over and he’s been found out. It’s now or never time for him now but I fear there may not be a way back. He didn’t celebrate the goal and went straight down the tunnel after the game. What a fool.
Fact – we play better as a team without him
Another fact – we play better without RLC
The work rate went up when these two slouches left the pitch.
Emerson deserves a break from the haters – I thought he had a good game – yes he made some mistakes but he wasn’t alone there. He looked lively, wanted the ball and looked dangerous in the final third. Definitely his best game to date. Reinjnders looked far better when RLC departed and took his goals well. Okafor and Chuck changed the game and Camarda looked at home up front – gutted he was offside. Want to see him on the bench every game.
The defence needs reworking – we will be crushed at the Bernabau with this CB pairing
They did try to build the team, or at least the offense, around him for 2-3 years. But he does deserve the bench.
Well i know alot of people here thinks the players are robots. Maybe Leao has some problems in his personal life? Maybe a girl he likes said sonething bad to him that is keeping his mood down? Maybe he misses some friend in Portugal or family? We dont know and should not speculate about his mood.
My rating:
Maignan: 7,5
Theo: 5
Tomori: 6
Gabbia: 5,5
Emerson: 5,5
Fofana: 4,5
Reijnders: 6
Pulisic: 6,5
RLC: 4
Leao: 5,5
Morata: 4,5
Chuku: 6,5
Okafor: 6
Decent ratings but only a 6 for Reijnders who won the game for us, scoring two goals? Why?
Wow. Those ratings are ridiculous fantasy. Almost making seem like we lost.
Not really a performance to be proud of but much needed 3 points.
I’m glad Okafor is still banging after his good display last season. He really is underrated and underappreciated. Leao, I feel sorry for him. It seems he’s in a dark place and he’s not helping himself either with this kind of selfish behaviour. Hope he can come out and play asap.
Nice from Reijnders, he showed grit and heart and did well offensively but we need additional defensive body in midfield to help Fofana because even 10 man Brugge easily passed our midfield.
Leão wasn’t selfish tonight. He sent 6 crosses in. 3 accurately, 2 inaccurately, and in the other one he was very unselfish because he could have scored but he passed, instead. If anything Leão was too unselfish because in that occasion he definitely could have scored, which would shut his critics up. Still, he chose to pass, which was the wrong decision but wasn’t selfish.
Leão had a moody outburst when he didn’t celebrate with his companions at game end and instead ran to the locker room. That’s being moody, not selfish. At least, not in the strict sense. One can say that in the large sense it’s selfish because he is putting his own feelings of anger at being subbed out, above the team and the companions when not celebrating with them. But that was after the game. During the game he wasn’t selfish.
Yes, Reijnders did win the game for us; without his two goals we’d have been in trouble. But yes, defensively he was poor and given that Fofana was tired from the huge effort against Udinese, our midfield was not good tonight.
You are right that overall this wasn’t a great performance despite the nice score line 3-1. We needed two great saves by Maignan and we needed a red card to win the game against a rather modest team. I feel that in part, it happened because many players were exhausted from the huge effort of playing for 70 minutes one man down, trying to defend a 1-0 lead, against Udinese, while facing an incredibly biased ref. Wasn’t it nice to play in front a good ref like tonight’s, for a change?
Most likely we’d have done better if we had had a full week to rest before the Brugge game.
But we’ll be playing 7 games in 21 days so yes, it’s concerning that our midfield and defense keep granting opportunities to the opponents, even if tonight fatigue was partly a justification.
Once more, it’s not our offense that is failing. We score enough goals. But we concede too many goals or even when we win, we almost concede goals (thankfully Mike has been in good form).
I wish in January we’d get a good LB deputy for Theo, another CB, and a good RB. I know we’ll probably not get any. Our management is too cheap and too slow. But the way our midfield and offense are set up right now, we are a fragile team.
Ted clearly didn’t call him selfish for the game he had, he called him selfish cos of his behavior both after the game and how he reacted while walking back to the bench and the goal was scored. I am also a HUGE fan of Leao (I own 2 of his jerseys) but I was actually disappointed with that attitude. However, I’m happy we have Fonseca and I believe Leao will come out much better and will even improve than he has ever done under Pioli that always let him play an entire 90mins even when he didn’t need to.
By selfish I meant not cheering with the team. You can be moody but you cannot put your own interest in front before team. Sorry but that’s not moody, that’s childish and selfish. As I said, that all has to do with him not being in a good place mentally right now and I hope he comes over it soon.
I just wish we get a proper DM to help Fofana, because we are still losing the battles in midfield. Brugge ran us over in the middle easily.
He seems socially awkward when getting sub’ed out. Doesn’t quite know how to carry himself.
Because the rest of the game he played like a 5. Gave him pluss 0,5 for each goal.
Fair enough, it’s your opinion and I respect it.
For me, though, Reijnders deserved a 7 or even 7.5. Scoring two goals is no small potatoes. It’s a brace and it happens rarely. Without those two goals the score would have been 1-1 and we’d have dropped two points, when we really can’t afford to drop points to a team like Brugge after losing our first two games, if we want to advance to the next UCL phase. For me, if a player wins a game for us, he did his part and deserves a high score, even if otherwise he doesn’t do much.
Reijnders was poor defensively tonight, but actually I thought that in addition to his two goals, he did move a lot offensively and contributed a bit to disorganizing Brugge’s defense.
I think 7 should be good. I’d give him 7.5 if not for the poor defensive effort but because his defensive failures didn’t result in goals for the opponents, I deduct only 0.5 for them, given his two scores.
Also, do consider that Reijnders was playing with a rather useless midfielder (RLC) and an exhausted one (Fofana) so it wasn’t easy for him to try to sustain the midfield almost by himself. Still, he was able to push forward and score two goals. Good enough for me.
Oh, and there is also this: do consider that Reijnders earned the foul that resulted in Brugge being a man down. That might be worth another 0.5, because 11 v 11 it did look like we’d have been in trouble. So, Reijnders was very instrumental for this win, achieving the man advantage and scoring the winning goals.
Great win. Great rotation and impact off the bench. Attacking depth that contributes is something we’ve been missing. Not so Leao dependent.
I don’t see any reason not to alternate and start games with Okafor-Puli-Chuk behind Morata (who needs to be making his presence felt outside of dropping deep and winning fouls).
A lot of tired legs out there. Fofana and Emerson looked heavy-legged.
I’m not a Rafa hater, and I always want to see him shine.
I watched Madrid v Dortmund, great game.
Vini jnr was just sensational, the skill, pace, effort, superb.
This is the bar, this is what Leao should aspire to
Vini is world class. Leao isn’t. Its simple.
Body structure of rafa is differ to vini, vini has more balanced one while Rafa looks top heavy, so he stumble frequently while dribbling and he can’t sprint for that much time, while vini sprint like a dog with his tongue out, Rafa needs to work on his lower body more.
RANCHO ! IT’S CALLED BEING FLAT-FOOTED and NOT BEING ABLE TO REACT TO THE ON GOING PLAY
“Rafa needs to work on his lower body more.”
What he needs to work on is his attitude.
Fans should stop disrespecting current great players or great players from the past by putting them in the same sentence with Leao.
Rashford, Dembele, Antony, Adama Traore, now those are better Leao comps.
The player that won Milan, the league is getting compared to Antony 🤣. The way he gets treated by this fan base you think he had the black plague. When he’s Consistently one of Milan’s top g/a Producers
The player that was in the team that won Milan the league, not the player that won Milan the league.
In that case Antony also won Ajax 2 leagues, not 1.
Milan don’t win the league that year without him. It’s simple
Haha. That’s a good burn!
Haha. That’s a funny burn!
That’s a bit harsh.
Leao is way better than Antony or Adama Traoré and way more productive. I get your point but this is not a good comparison.
Look, I like Rafa a lot and I am simply the poster here at Sempremilan who defends him the most (although he is not my favorite Milan player; Pulisic is; it’s just that Puli doesn’t require much defending while Rafa does because he is often scapegoated, so I talk more about Rafa). But it is unreasonable to expect from Rafa that he will be a Vini Jr. The latter is simply a much better player.
If Rafa were as good as Vini Jr, he wouldn’t be playing for Milan. He’d be playing for much richer clubs like the same Real Madrid, or PSG, or Manchester City, or Liverpool, or Bayern. The very reason why Rafa plays for us, a club with a great past but currently a medium-income club that can’t afford the world’s best players, is because he is a very talented winger but is far from perfect (has poor work rate, and poor defensive skills; he is not as complete a player as Vini Jr) and is not world class.
I mean, someone might say that as one of the most prolific wingers in the top 5 European leagues (the last three seasons Rafa had 28, 29, and 30 goals + assists participations; anyone who doubts it can go check Rafa’s stats on FootyStats dot org) Rafa might qualify as world class. But that would be a bit generous because he is obviously not in the same class of Vini Jr, Rodrygo, and Mbappé to mention a few. Or even Dimarco who is not a left winger but often plays as one, and I think that unfortunately, even though he plays for our main rivals, I have to acknowledge, reluctantly, that Dimarco is a better player than Leão and has a bigger claim at being called world class. Dimarco defends well (Rafa doesn’t) and when he advances to the left wing as he very often does, he often generates great plays, maybe with more precision and regularity than Rafa who is more irregular.
People need to tone down the expectations. Rafa is who he is, warts and all. He is a talented winger capable of bursts of speed cutting through the opponent’s defense like hot knife in butter. He is capable of good assists and on occasion finishes well and scores. He is very helpful to Milan and most definitely we wouldn’t have won the Scudetto 3 seasons ago without him. But also, he is not showing much evolution, and his shortcomings remain the same, so I have very little hope that he will improve. We don’t see an ascending curve for him, and he is not very young any longer. Maybe what we see is Rafa’s ceiling.
Rafa is also a very particular player who thrives doing his own thing. He is not a system player who easily adapts to working for the team in various capacities like coaches often want. In this way, he kind of clashes with Fonseca’s views which is bad for Rafa.
This said, I’m happy that we have him because despite his shortcomings, he does add a fair number of scores and assists to our tally, and I don’t think our cheap management would be able to hire another left winger that would make an equivalent number of seasonal goal participations, in case Rafa is sold. We’d be worse off without him.
He isn’t in a great phase currently, but still, he has had 5 goal participations this season, which is only half of what Pulisic has done, but is still second best among all Milan players.
I think currently Rafa is more mentally weak than weak in terms of football skills. He isn’t in a good place. Part of it is because he is not a very mature individual and he is very sensitive to criticism (see, he reacts to it on social media while most professional players just ignore it). Where he is mentally right now, is affecting his game.
I hope Fonseca will be able to get it fixed, but I’m afraid he won’t because the relationship between Fonseca and Rafa doesn’t seem to be a very good one, so maybe this will get worse rather than better, and we’ll end up losing Rafa, which I will regret.
Great post. Yet I see people in here, trying to criticize you for having a logical backed up opinion.
Luigi- Spot on.
Pace, intent, control, purpose and end product. You’re right, VJ is the bar for all left wingers. Leao has the first two, but he comes up short in the rest.
I also watched Real vs Dortmund and I’m really worried.
I think we’re cooked.
The official rater here from Sempremilan said that Okafor and Chuk are “in much better form than Rafa.”
One needs to understand though, that these players have often performed better when they get subbed in for the last half hour, when the opponents are tired and they have fresh legs. Repeatedly, Chuk and Okafor have been poor when they started the game from minute one.
Rafa had three good crosses to Puli, Theo (in first half) and Reijnders (early in second half). All three could and should have been scores, but weren’t, for no fault of Rafa’s own. He also had a moment when he could have scored but decided to pass instead. In all four of these occasions, his companions didn’t follow through and didn’t convert the chances Rafa created for them.
Okafor and Chuk came in very fresh when the opponents’ full backs were at the end of their hopes, and then they achieved two good crosses (one each) that Reijnders converted. Great, and I commend Okafor and Chuk for it.
Still, I’m not that sure that Okafor or Chuk would have done better than Rafa, had they played from minute one.
And then, let’s look at stats. Rafa has had so far 5 goal participations (one goal and four assists) this season.
Chuk: 1 goal and 1 assist.
Okafor: 1 goal and 1 assist.
So, come again? Chuk and Okafor are in much better form? How come both only have two fifths of Rafa’s goal participations?
And in how many games Okafor and Chuk were completely useless when they started from minute one, last season? Do you guys have short memories? Okafor, Chuk and also Jovic are super subs but they haven’t been starter material. That’s pretty easy to see and understand.
This goes to show how unfairly Rafa is treated. Players come in with fresh legs and are immediately called “in much better form than Leão.” It’s a lot harder to play well from minute one than to come in as a super sub when the opponents are tired.
Maybe Okafor and Chuk should start the games from now on, and Leao should be coming off the bench since it is so hard for him to play from the start.
And yeah they are in much better form since they both were involved in Milan goals in the last 2 games. When was the last game that Leao was involved in a goal or actually played well? A month ago?
Form is temporary thing and Okafor and Chukwueze are in better form than Leao.
P.S i hope Leao is paying you for the million comments you post here trying to defend his awful play, otherwise you should find another way to make a better use of your time.
Who do you think you are to lecture me on how to spend my time? I spend it the way I see fit and it’s none of your damn business.
Over here in this very thread I haven’t just talked about Rafa. I talked also about Pulisic, and about Reijnders, defending both from attacks. I simply do not like it when “fans” gratuitously and unfairly attack our own players, like you, a notorious Leão hater, does. Then I defend them, like good Milan fans should do. Unlike you.
You are not defending Leao from unfair attacks, you just write pathetic essays every day attacking fans who criticize Leao. Leao is rightfully criticized by fans, his teammates, his coach and even Milan legends, because he plays like trash. That’s not an attack but a criticism. You know the same thing you do when it comes to Emerson? I thought as a good Milan fan you should be defending Milan players not attack them like me. In one of your 100 comment here you actually blamed Emerson for the goal even though Leao’s guy scored it. I guess you are selective when it comes to being a good Milan fan who defends players from unfair criticism. Instead of calling out leao just blame Emerson for the goal. We get it. You don’t get it but we get it.
Its Pathetic
The operative word is “unfair.” Criticizing Emerson is right because he’s not good. Leão on the other hand is obviously a good player. Still, I did criticize Leão here in this very thread, when he deserved it. But you guys criticize him no matter what he does. One of you even blamed him for the last game when he DID NOT EVEN PLAY. That’s how unfair and ridiculous his scapegoating gets to be. So, “Leão’s guy” scored the goal? LOL, Leão is not a defender; he doesn’t have a guy he needs to mark. If a forward can track back and help with defending, fine, but it’s not “his guy.” Do you even understand football??? Four of our defenders failed grossly in that goal but for you it’s still Leão’s fault, and that’s what is pathetic.
“We get it.” No, you haters don’t get it, and there is no “we” like it’s a consensus. There are plenty of people defending Leão, like Kaka, like Pulisic, like several posters here. And his stats speak for themselves. In the last 3 seasons + this season until now, 92 goal participations. (28+30+29+5 so far; source, footystats dot org).
What has Emerson done? He has never scored, never assisted, and several goals conceded came from his sector. So, criticizing him is not unfair. Criticizing Leão – in the exaggerated manner you guys do – is unfair.
You said that Leão was just “a” player in the team that won the Scudetto. You conveniently ignore that he was voted by the league the MVP that season. He was THE main player who won the Scudetto for us, with several winning goals, but in your hatred your memory is short. That’s what is pathetic. That’s a huge demonstration of your hatred. Do you even know what MVP is? Most. Valued. Player. Period. But you, you say he was just “a” player in that team. Wow.
As for my posts being long, yes, I’m verbose, I’ve always been. Even in my job my supervisor tells me the same and she is right. But I’m not forcing you to read me. If you don’t have enough attention span to read long posts, sorry but I can’t help you with that.
You think my posts are too long? Say TLDR and move on. What is pathetic is to keep complaining of someone’s posting style rather than the substance. Get a life.
Tyrana blaim a dude for actually being logical.
“And then, let’s look at stats. Rafa has had so far 5 goal participations (one goal and four assists) this season.
Chuk: 1 goal and 1 assist.
Okafor: 1 goal and 1 assist.
So, come again? Chuk and Okafor are in much better form? How come both only have two fifths of Rafa’s goal participations?”
Divide the contributions to their minutes on the pitch. Plus Leao hasn’t done anything lately. So yes, the other two ARE in fact in better form. You don’t really know what “being in form” means, now do you?
The beauty of Pulisic as an attacking mid is how much better the ball movement is. He moves more than RLC and is willingness to both penetrate and play one touch ball closer to the goal.
Leao 6…. Oh hmmmm
LUIGI ! ENOUGH !!!!!!!!!!! DEFENDING LEAO . a MULTIMILLIONAIRE PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE WHO IS ACTING LIKE A MOODY BABY… GROW UP LAZY LEAO !!! and luigi , move on , we need team players to represent the BLACK & RED AND TO STOP THINKING OF THEMSELVES !!!
Can I just say how much I abhor VAR?
How many great moments in the history of football would’ve been ruined by VAR?
Pele would probably only have scored 500 goals (joking)!
But seriously how is the world or the sport a better place because Camarda’s goal was ruled out for a marginal (needs a replay) offside?
If it needs a replay then it should be treated as being ON SIDE.
The other horrible thing about VAR (and yes it benefitted us this time) is its use for deciding red cards where tackles are shown in slow motion.
This is just not real life.
Modern football is absolutely rubbish at nearly every level.
VAR
The pathetic rules around tackling.
The ridiculous state of the transfer market.
The fact that teams barely have any connection with where they’re supposedly from.
The lack of loyalty shown by fans.
The lack of loyalty shown by clubs.
The lack of loyalty shown by players.
What really is the point of modern football?
You are correct. That’s exactly why FIFA for a long time resisted the idea of video assistance in football, claiming that it would ruin the human aspect of the game and would delay and break the flow, which are things that yes, VAR did.
These millimetric offsides are ruining otherwise great offensive plays.
Even the exhilaration fans experience when our team scores, is ruined. These days I don’t even jump in joy when we score; I wait to see if VAR will take it away.
Now, FIFA seems to have realized how bad this is, and they are proposing to the Football Association a rule change, saying that a player’s ENTIRE body needs to be ahead of the last defender for an offside to be called.
I hope that in the next FA/FIFA rule meeting the change is made so that this nonsense will stop.
One of the greatest moments in the life of a young man was thwarted today. Correctly, in terms of the current rule, but still a pity. I hope that the rule will indeed change. Enough is enough.
By the way, the minimal contact that these days qualifies for PKs and red cards is also laughable (see the absurd red that was shown to Reijnders last time). Football is a contact sport and VAR is ruining this aspect, too. Fonseca agrees and has talked against it.
I couldn’t resist with Camarda’s goal.
I was up off the couch, running around with the kids. I just wanted to believe.
And this is the thing, I am trying to get my kids into the sport so I try and celebrate goals. Sometimes I don’t even tell them the goal has been ruled out!
I want them to believe.
I hope they fix the sport before they’re old enough to realise what’s going on!
Haha, what you said made me think of the movie “Life is beautiful” when the father hides from the son the sad reality. Eventually your kids will look at reality on their own, but yes, apparently FIFA is planning to propose to the FA a rule change when they meet annually to consider football’s rule: a player will only be offside if his entire body is ahead of the last defender who is not the goalkeeper, so there is no more nonsense of a toe or an elbow causing an offside through VAR review. Before VAR existed, these situations were called “same line” and the goal was valid. The spirit of the offside rule is to curb an unfair advantage if a player is truly ahead, but a toe or an elbow do not confer an unfair advantage and should not determine an offside call. I hope that by the time your kids grow a bit more, the FA and FIFA will have changed this rule, already.
Can’t take away the celebration though – great goal and as fans, we will always have that moment!
But I called the red as soon as it happened (4K and a 60in screen helps). Dreadful tackle; no intent to get the ball. VAR did the refs job…
Am I crazy or have Tomori and Hernandez become flat out poor defenders? Especially Theo but his defensive positioning is awful, Emerson gets a lot of criticism (mostly deserved) but honestly think Theo has been worse in the defensive phase
Theo was never a good defender but we used to have a better midfield, and a team with better balance where we had a more defensive right side which freed up Theo and Leao on the left.
Last summer we managed to BOTH dismantle our midfield and introduce a more offensive RW.
The defence has struggled ever since.
Yeah I remember the scudetto year Calabria dropped in next to the cbs freeing Tomori to attack clearances and such but I don’t remember him having marking issues like he has now, his defensive awareness has really declined. I also remember Theo showing signs of a developing defensive game but that has clearly gone out the window.
Theo has never been a good defender – like Gareth Bale he should have been moved to wing back and winger before now. Tomori has become a ‘last pick in the playground’ defender, which started when Tata kept goal..
Yes, Theo and Tomori are the problem with the defense. Theo has zero interest in playing defense, only attacking. And both he and Tomori are always out of position, there is no structure to the defense when they are in there. Just look at the goal. Theo is a LB and Tomori was the Left CB and on the goal there was nobody on the left side at all, both Theo and Tomori were on the center right and marking the same guy while nobody was on the left side to mark the goal scorer.
I hate to say it but I’m starting to think we’re more of a team when leao is not playing. While leao is slouching and whining, pulisic sees his opportunity and is taking over this team! Pulisic should be an absolute example for leao, both against udinese and today pulisic was everywhere and gave his all. Working as a cdm as a full back, you name it! Where leao complains and can only do his powerful run in quick transition and his final ball is lacking hard this year. I don’t know if he’s been figured out by everybody but it’s like he can no longer take control of the game and how can he have that poor attitude of being subbed because whenever his replacement comes on they change the game immediately. I understand being mad at yourself but you walking off to the tunnel while everyone is celebrating shows that your distancing yourself from the actual team and most importantly, he should never wear the captains armband. A true leader and true player that cares for the club would be going over to his teammates and congratulating them for changing the course of the game.
But what is going on behind the scenes here between fonseca and leao? When fonseca was fist brought in there was all this hype that they’re both Portuguese and that fonseca would build this team around leao to unlock his full potential. If anything it’s been the complete opposite and it looks like they don’t get along.
Why is everyone so obsessed with Leao!
He’s not Jesus.
We’re obsessed because he’s supposed to be our best player and after the scudetto season he has degraded. He’s also getting into his prime years and all these conflicts isn’t good for the team. Everyone expects much more from him.
All good points, Milanellofm. Leão’s attitude not celebrating with his teammates was terrible. He is obviously irritated with Fonseca and it is affecting his game. Leão did try for a while to do what Fonseca asked of him to track back and help the defense, like in that game when he was the captain (but yes, he is not captain material; but that game, maybe because he had the armband, he tried harder). But it seems like if he tries to do what Fonseca asks of him, he is less effective offensively, and he is getting really frustrated. Not to forget, even when he tries, he is not good at defending. It’s just not the kind of player that he is.
I think that the end result of this is that Leão will for the first time in 3 and a half years have a poor season and will ask to leave Milan. I don’t see him staying with us past this season, if this continues.
You are also right that Puli should be an example for Leão. But Puli is a mature and humble individual despite his phenomenal, now world-class form. Leão is obviously immature and deals poorly with adversity, and tolerates criticism poorly. So, I don’t think Leão will be able to benefit from Puli’s example, or Morata’s. Leão is 25 years old, now. That’s a man, not a boy. If he hasn’t matured yet, I don’t see that he will, anytime soon.
I’m very worried. I think this conundrum is ruining Leão, and even if the team sometimes seems to play more like a team without him, I think overall we’ll be worse off without him, and even Pulisic will have less space without Leão attracting double marking. By the way, Pulisic himself has declared just that, a few days ago, in these words. That he has more space because of Rafa.
Another problem plaguing Leão’s season is that he depends a lot on the chemistry with Theo, and Theo has not been good this season, either. The Theão thing is not working.
Not only Leão is frustrated with Fonseca, but also Fonseca seems to be frustrated with Leão, despite his declarations to the contrary. That’s not good and I’m not sure if there is a fix, because the situation just seems to escalate more and more.
Anybody who says Leão was poor tonight, go to the AC Milan community in Reddit and watch the highlights there posted by a certain mercurialsaliva. He noticed that in 60 minutes, Leão completed the most dribbles (7), created the most chances (3) and won the most duels (10) in the match.
Leao wasn’t poor , in fact he showcased his talent while on the pitch, nobody can deny it.
However ,That’s the thing with Leao , he always plays to showcase his skill not be the match winner, the difference maker that his talent can allow him to be.
There are many attacking players on the pitch at the same time and that means Leao has got to dirty work as well to compensate for balance. This is the issue Fonseca is having with him and the team had much more bite , urgency, danger when he and the (ghost) Loftus came off.
The team needs to go for the jugular, hungry to hurt the opposition not be fancy and passive.
A win is a win and this one was obviously much needed to stay in UCL hunt – BUT – I wasn’t that impressed at all. Brugge played with 10 men. The win wasn’t impressive at all and in fact, we haven’t been impressive all season under Fonseca. If not for some brilliant individual displays from players like Pulisic – we would be in big trouble. Take away the Inter game and who have we beaten, honestly. Venezia, Lecce, Udinese and a 10 man Brugge??? Yikes. Hardly inspiring. The talent is there but Fonseca isn’t the coach IMO. He should be getting much more out of this team, despite its deficiencies. We have a mediocre coach and have (below) mediocre results so far. Hope it improves, but I don’t see it long term with Fonseca.
Fofana don’t worth playing for milan
Leao should stop drawing unnecessary attention to himself; football is a team game. You can’t be at your best all the time, or expect to play the whole 90+ minutes of every game. The management aren’t saying anything about all the drama he has been putting on, because they want the team to blend together. But, if he keeps bringing on these attitudes, they won’t have a choice than to sell him off, and, no one would miss him. Gabbia was sent out on loan. But, he was brought back, and now, he’s one of our best performers, week in, week out. Chukwueze has been criticized several times, but, now, he’s picking up. Each player needs to do what he’s paid to do, and forget about personal interest.
Puli’s defensive pressure set Chuky free for the run leading to goal#3.